Blending before distilling
Toa Shuzo began as a sake brewer in Chichibu in 1625 and moved its base to Hanyu in November 1941.1,2,7 It got a whisky licence in 1946 and at first blended and stored malt whisky imported from Scotland.1,3,9 In 1962 it began distilling its own grain whisky, on continuous stills, to blend with the imported malt.9,10
Making malt whisky
Buying Scottish malt whisky was costly with a weak yen, so in 1980 Toa Shuzo installed a pot still and began trial production of its own.1,3,7 At first a single still did both distillations, and a second still was added in 1981.7 Japan's whisky boom faded after 1984, and Hanyu stopped making whisky in 1991.7 Distilling restarted in 2000 but stopped within the year as the whisky market shrank.1,3,4
Sold and dismantled
Ichiro Akuto, son of Toa Shuzo's president, joined the company in 1996.7 In 2000, with the whole company in trouble, it entered civil rehabilitation proceedings, and Akuto took over from his father in 2001, but the business did not recover.9,11,12 In 2004 Toa Shuzo was sold to Hinode Tsusho, now Hinode Holdings, and the Akuto family left its management.9,10,11 After the sale, the distillery was dismantled and Toa Shuzo paused its whisky making.1,2,7
The last casks
The new owner planned to discard the stock if no buyer was found, so Akuto bought the 400 remaining casks and stored them at Sasanokawa Shuzo in Fukushima Prefecture.5,11,12 He set up Venture Whisky Ltd. in September 2004 to sell the whisky.5,11,12 Venture Whisky Ltd. launched Ichiro's Malt from the stock in 2005, including the Card Series.5,6,7
Rebuilt
In 2016 Toa Shuzo again began blending and casking imported malt whisky, and Golden Horse, its original whisky brand, returned.